Wednesday, November 13, 2013

**The majority of this was written right after I saw the movie and then I completed it on Monday. And it was supposed to be shared Tuesday .. and now it's Wednesday. So basically, such is life.**

To continue on from my makeup post from Monday (click here to see) I wanted to share a review of "Thor: The Dark World". Before we do this I want to say that this first part will be spoiler-free and then the later part will contain spoilers but I'll make it very clear when that will start so I don't spoil the movie for anyone. I also want to state that I really hate going into movies with high expectations and overhype and stuff so the first part will also be "tame" in that area. #yourewelc

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I felt like it had a good variety of emotions and balance of comic relief. I did have low expectations of this movie based off the first one but couldn't miss my boyfriend--er Chris Hemsworth--and the chance to see his shirt off (oh that totally happened btw). Also because of all the connecting Marvel movies like the Avengers and stuff I wanted to stay in the loop. For those who saw Avengers without seeing Captain America/Thor/The Hulk/Ironman you were probably "okay" but still not totally clued in on who the hell Loki was.

Annnnnnnyways. I was satisfied with the choice of casting and the performances each of the actors gave. I particularly love the addition of Chris O'Dowd - his character had a nice touch to the film and I just really adore him as an actor (I would probably be depressed to see him as "bad guy" but we'll see how his career grows, in which case that part is inevitable).

I stated previously that there was a good variety of emotion which includes wanting to cry (this was a predictable scene but beautifully done), laughing (the comic relief was refreshing and I didn't feel like it was forced) and it was even jaw dropping - there was one incident that I was not expecting and was truly shocked and seriously..movies often don't make my jaw drop (one other example would be Carlisle's death during Breaking "Dawn Part Two"..yeah..I said it!). The anxiety level wasn't too bad (after recovering from "Olympus Has Fallen" I feel like it takes more for me to get stressed out during a movie) but it was still thrilling during the war scenes, because those are always exciting.

I also loved the costumes and the makeup. My favorite wardrobe was the Dark Elves' armor. They had these cool helmet/mask things that I just loved so much. I really don't know why. But seriously, the overall look of the wardrobes were spot on for me. I loved all the accessories and how the different warriors represented their realm.

I really didn't notice any flaws or plots holes in the film. There were a few minor details but they were probably done for dramatics but I'm guessing most people wouldn't think twice about it.

As always Stan Lee makes an appearance and it's something I always appreciate and honestly I would do that to if I had my work being made into a movie.

My most favorite part of the movie and the reason why I can't sleep while I'm typing this is because of the setup for the next film!!!!!! I'm so excited for the next installment of this madness. It's like, you know there are trilogies and franchises and crap. Well while this is a franchise, technically, right? It's so much more complicated than that. It's not like Star Wars 1-6 .. or Indiana Jones 1-3 (that last one doesn't count - we all agree to forget that ever happened). This is like..Ironman 1 & 2 .. Captain America .. The Hulk 1 & 2 (wait..did that last one "count"?), Thor 1 & 2 .. and it's just so much more to keep up with almost. I wouldn't even be surprised if I missed one of them (okay..I did..I first wrote "Ironman 1 & 2" .. and that last one did count regardless of all the issues I had with - why release a "Christmas movie" in May?!? Oh and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. .. I'm not sure if that counts or not. I have yet to watch it.). After posting to Facebook about being excited about Thor 3 or Avengers 2 (whichever one picks up right where Thor 2 leaves off) one friend confirmed Avengers 2 will be pick it up. But it also sounds like Captain America 2 will come out before then. I'm normally on top of these things but .. I'm clearly not on my game right now. It's also cool because with all these movies in this franchise each one has a little snippet after the credits and although we already knew before seeing this that there will be more movies this little snippet gives you what the story line will be about..sort of.

Now...

Go away....

If you haven't seen Thor: The Dark World yet.......

You are welcome to return once you see it................

Okay leggo......

OHMUHGERD. I seriously loved this. I really had such low expectations haha..that wasn't even a joke! Had I based my expectations off of The Avengers they wouldn't have been so low but I still would've loved it. I'm ready to go see it again. I'm ready to own it. There were so many "right" things about this film. Now, it wasn't perfect but I'm just so happy with the movie that the itty bitty things don't even matter. I just try to find things wrong with it so I can appear to know what I'm talking about. But really, I do.

Where to begin....

In the beginning, I believe it's Odin's (not to be confused with Oden..what a loser...) voice explaining .. nope...it's Thor's voice..Thor is explaining how his "father's father" took out the Dark Elves and the Aether. But really neither were taken out but just tucked away for a bit. And I liked how the history was portrayed .. visuals but also clear bullet points of what's going on. And it wasn't overly complicated like .. oh what's the movie .. okay I can't remember the movie but I saw in the past year or two and it was just too much..it could've been explained more simply and just .. no. No. So luckily this wasn't like that at all.

Let's talk about the crying..okay..I didn't cry but I also expected Frigga to die. I honestly thought she was dead before the first Thor but guess not. I did love her character and portrayal of her done by Renee Russo. And I loved the emotion of the scene and even the choregraphy between her getting stabbed and Thor's hammer upsidin' Malekith which left a killer scar. Holy crap I loved his face after that - not because of what it symbolized but because how it looked. That was siiiiick but not overdone. I'm thinking Halloween face makeup for it even.

Now during the scene before Frigga's death when all the Dark Elves are storming the place killing all of these warriors I'm thinking "Man, I wonder how they clean this all up, so many bodies." And THEY SHOWS IT. Okay they don't "shows" it..entirely. I seriously loved the funeral scene. It definitely made top 7 of my favorite scenes (I do not have an official list - or number even, 7 just sounded good). We hardly ever see this part in war movies and the funeral was beautiful. She looked stunning and they floated her away and before the archer sent her flame, I was thinking "Dang, now they just need floating lanterns." Bam archer goes, bam more floating caskets and bam there go the balls of energy or what into the sky that was lifted up by civilians. So basically it was cooler than the "floating stars" or lights or whatever Repunzel calls them (you would think I would know since I've seen that movie so many times). The energy they used really beautifully represented each fallen soldier's soul and by it being energy not only did it correlate with their weapons and force shields it was like they are now stars in their universe, looking down on them like angels...was that too much? Hahaha. Seriously though, GREAT scene. I dare someone to do it better..but they will fail.

Loki. Loki might be one of my favorite villains. Tom Hiddleston does such a great job. His character isn't super appealing like Thor is and so he has a harder role in my opinion, probably the hardest in this film. I loved the character "development" throughout the movie. I can't fully say it's development but wasn't sure what else to call it. He obviously has his walls up when he uses his illusions and while Loki acts like he doesn't love his mother you can see how broken down he really was. Loki's reaction to the news of her death was really emotional - but his back was turned to the camera. The effects of the furniture being thrown and the intensity of his body language and the audio of it all..just perfect. It's what films need. (I really didn't love the President's and son's reaction to when the First Lady died in "Olympus Has Fallen" .. that was just, annoying and like they didn't try that hard.)

Yes..I started a new paragraph but we're staying with the Loki topic but just breaking it up. So question, is Odin dead or locked away somewhere? I'm not surprised that Loki survived his "death" and was hoping he would. I didn't think Loki would be killed off like Agent Phil Coulson was (which I still have mixed feelings about). And while this is the "last" scene of the movie I'm really curious how it will play out in the next part of this story line. How long will he pretend to be Odin? Will he just force everyone to accept him as King? Yeah he and Thor could duel it out since no one else could go up against him. But Loki must have a plan to eliminate Thor before becoming King Loki. Oh..btw..Thor, please. Be King. I know that it's part of the story line and all and crap and whatever...because with Loki being Odin at this point it helps move this along. BUT WHO WOULD BE KING? If they could've addressed who would be King after Odin I would've been a bit more satisfied. That is a discussion that needs to happen. I can accept Thor not "wanting" to be King or whatever his reason .. but he needed to have a solution because Odin..wait..are these dudes immortal if they don't get stabbed or lasered? Odin talks about Jane being mortal .. but how old do immortals age? Because Odin is starting to look a bit crusty and that dude Malekith only looked like he matured slightly since Odin's dad knocked him out. Yeah..now I'm confused. And I'm wondering how many of the realms are mortal and how many are immortal. Because technically Earth is part of a realm since it was one of the realms within the alignment....now these are some fluid thoughts I just came up with. So just go with it.

Oh comic relief and Richard .. overall I LOVED all the comedy throughout the film. It wasn't like super hilarious but seriously..it was done so well. It's not like the movie "needed" it but it really helps keep a good balance of emotions. And in the beginning of the movie when I saw Chris O'Dowd as Richard I was already happy to see him but then he popped up later and I loved it. "Who's Richard?" - Thor

I know there are many many many more things to discuss about "Thor: The Dark World". But perhaps I'll make another blogpost after seeing it again. I'm ready to see it again in theaters and there's a chance I will. But I'll write again for sure once I buy it on Blu-ray .. then I'll be able to take notes and really get into all these details!

Live long and proper. -DailyGrace

Yes..I know it's the wrong franchise.

The other night I ended my review at that but then remembered two things. Topless Chris Hemsworth and "Captain America's" appearance. Plus I read Alynda Wheat's review of the movie in People Magazine and something made me laugh.

So naughty little Thor took his shirt off for one scene. One short scene. What. A. Tease. Obviously they *needed* his abs to make an appearance but it wasn't like, overload. And I feel silly for using the word "overload" because really..can there ever really be too many abs? But in all seriousness I hate when movies do things that are unnecessary. It made sense for him to have his shirt off in his chambers .. but any other time during the movie it would be pointless. I did notice that after that scene, he then switched from long sleeves to no sleeves at all on his armor. But then he switched back to the sleeves. It's kind of like they helped us transition back to him wearing all his clothes. So thank you for that. And I now may have become an "arm" person. Haha. Just kidding. Sexy backs will probably always be my thing.

Getting back to Loki and the amazingness of Tom Hiddleston .. seriously might be my new obsession. I just want to dedicate this whole post to him because he did such a great job. And now that I'm thinking about his performance I'm remembering more things I wanted to mention in this post. While this next portion is more about the writing the acting is just as important in the sense of bringing the screenplay to life. I really appreciated Loki making the illusion of him being Captain America. It was surprising and just a fun way to intertwine these different stories. Also the part when Loki cuts off Thor's hand. Holy crap my jaw dropped and then I saw no blood and realized that it was just an illusion and was like smirking and thinking "well played Loki, well played". I loved that the story line wasn't too predictable. Yes, I was able to figure out that Thor didn't really lose his hand but I didn't think Loki would "go against the plan" and that part surprised me. And that was sweet. Especially since it drew out the emotion of "But how does he use his hammer now?". Haha.

Today when I was reading People Magazine I read the review for this movie. There's a line towards the end of the article that says "...Chris O'Dowd shows up in a hilarious throwaway role." HAHAHAHA LMBO. It appears that Alynda and I are on the same page and have the same love for O'Dowd. The reviews in People are short so the fact Richard's character got a mention just made me gush with excitement. I just love O'Dowd.

Okay yes I think the over all gist is here and scattered like always. Scattered and full of passion (I hope that's how it reads anyways). I might see this again in theaters, if I do it will be within the next two weeks. But this is a definite purchase for me.

Monday, November 11, 2013

So last Friday night I saw "Thor: The Dark World" and before going to see it I thought it would be fun to do makeup inspired by the Movie. The image I based my look off of is this one:

I knew I wanted red as the transition with grey on the center lid and black on the inner/out corners. I ended up with something a bit different than what I had intended but loved what I came up with. Now that I've seen the movie I have an idea for another look so maybe that one I'll do the darker out edges - but we'll see.

Now, this blogpost is different than the past for a few reasons. One being I took photos as I went about doing my makeup and I also found probably the best way I can utilize my phone to take photos. And you'll see as the photos progress I get better with the lighting. I used a mirror similar this to improve my photo quality/give truer colors to my look:

At first I was using my back facing camera and had it towards me and used the mirror's reflection to get what I wanted in the frame. The colors were more true this way compared to my last few makeup posts but not quite there. Then at one point I tried using the same camera but instead took a picture of my actual reflection. This way I was closer to light and the colors were more true. I still prefer this look in person but I was very pleased that I was able to figure out a better way of getting the colors/blending to show up better in photos. I even got a compliment from a friend on Facebook about it!! So that was neat. So let's get on with the look.

See the "eclipse" in my eyes? Yeah..that's the reflection of the light in my eyes. Yet this photo is a reflection of my eyes in the mirror...reflectception?

First I filled in my eyebrows (slightly .. I still haven't gone in on the bold brow trend) with "Hazelnut". I then put Pro Longwear Concealer all over my lid and up to my brow as an eye shadow base. Since I don't have a red eyeshadow I improvised a bit. A few months ago in my IPSY bag I received a Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in the color "Big Apple" so I applied it in my crease and blended it out with a tapered brush. I built up the color until I was satisfied. These first two photos are a few layers of blending.

Here are photos of the product and brush I used along with more of the lip balm on in my crease before blending.

Bam. It's all blended.

For the rest of the look I used "Virgin" (far left), "Creep" (second from right) and "Gunmetal" (far right) for the Urban Decay Naked Palette. (Um..I saw photos of Naked3 and holy crap. Pleas please please please Santa Clause..PLEASE. Oh I still would love Naked2, Vice 2, and the Shattered Face Case.)

With a flat shader brush I applied Gunmetal all over the lid, not going into the crease.

With a blending brush I blended that all together with Creep.

And just like with the lip balm I built up the color. Start off with a little on the brush, work it in and then when needed pick up more color with your brush .. repeat until you get it as dark as you want.

My eyes so far at this point:

At this point I stopped with my eyes (oh and I totally was winning tonight because I had NO FALLOUT). When you're careful you don't need to clean up and sometimes I clean up my line and make a straight edge on my outer corners but with this one I wanted to keep it "blown out". At this point I applied my Mineralize Moisture Foundation all over with a stippling brush. And I meant to get a photo of this next part but totally forgot! But the left photo below shows what it looks like afterward. I applied the Mac Prep+Prime Highlighter Pen in "Bright Forecast". I put this on as a triangle shape beneath my eye. One edge of the triangle goes down the side of my nose, one edge is parallel to my eye and the third edge is the diagonal connecting the two lines. I blended it out with a small tapered stippling brush. The photo on the right [slightly] shows where I put my Pro Longwear Concealer to continue to conceal my under eye area. Putting concealer all over down there doesn't totally help because while you're covering the dark parts you're also highlighting them as well. (Thanks to Wayne Goss for that tip!) And along with Christian's (my main dude at the local Mac store) advice I built up the concealer little by littler until I was satisfied. I used a very very very very very small concealer brush to place it and blend it out. I also used my foundation stippling brush to blend when needed. And then set all of that with Bare Minerals Veil.

After I completed the rest of my face makeup (which is listed below) I applied a black pencil liner to my tight line and waterline.

Following that I applied Gunmetal with a pencil brush to smoke it out and I also put Creep right on the liner with a small angled brush.

For the rest of my face I set my foundation with Mac's Mineralize Foundation/Loose; contoured with Mac's Bronzing Powder by placing it in the hallow of my cheeks, beneath my jaw and then around my hairline; put Mac's "Springsheen" on the apple of my cheeks and for an extra glowy highlight I put Lustre Drops in "Sun Rush" on my cheekbone starting about the outer third of my eye and curved up to about the midline of my eye. I made sure to blend it all out so it didn't look all gross and stuff.

For my lips I grabbed a random lipgloss that I got in one of my IPSY bags.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

I used the Urban Decay Mariposa Palette for this look and actually did something different with my top liner. It's something that has taken a few years (for me) to get a hang of. But really I think a lot of people I know have been able to do it easily.

With a flat shader brush pack on "Gunmetal" all over the lid and do not go into the crease.

With the brush with "Mushroom" blend out the edges of "Gunmetal".

Apply a black pencil eyeliner to the top lid (the part I finally was able to do without looking like crap) and smudge it and blend into "Gunmetal" with "Creep" from the first Naked Palette (second from right).

Tight line with a black pencil liner and also add it to the bottom lash line.

Slightly blend out the bottom lash line with "Creep" with a pencil brush.

Put Virgin from the Naked Palette (first from left) in the inner corners and highlight.

For mascara I used my Tarte "Lights, Camera, Flashes Statement Mascara". I got this in my most recent Glossybox and it's funny when I first saw it in stores I hated the packaging and had no interest in trying it for that reason, it seemed so bulky. BUTOHMY. I have super thin and "fragile" lashes and it works so well to to make them pop. I seriously love this mascara. Thank you Glossybox!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

For Halloween this year Peytyn and I are going to be mermaids! I had a few other ideas at first but after watching a few YouTube videos I changed my mind. Brittany and Chrisspy both did tutorials for mermaids and love them so much and inspired my makeup for Halloween. Here are the videos:

I didn't necessarily follow these videos when I was practicing my makeup .. it had been a week since I had watched them but I knew the general idea of what I wanted to do based off of what Brittany and Chrisspy did. I did one practice look and then a "real" look that I actually wore out. But for Halloween I plan on doing things differently again but want to share what I've done so far. It really won't change too much I just want to add more glitter/sequin/color detail around my face, neck and collar.

This is what happened when I first tried out my mermaid makeup:

For the first time practicing this I used different shades of green and blue to create a smokey eye and to contour. I have this random glitter (I literally have no clue where it came from) that I applied wherever I contoured. I applied it with eyelash adhesive and it wasn't that much fun getting off later but my eye makeup remover made it much easier. I would like to use the glitter again for Halloween but would like to make more of gradient so the transition looks smoother and not so harsh.

Now for when I did this a second time I didn't use any glitter at all. I wanted to concentrate more on contouring with the blue/green eye shadow. I used an E.L.F. palette the first time I practiced and it looked nice but the colors rubbed off easily and made it hard to add color around my face. The pictures below are what I for sure will do again for Thursday and I'll share what I used for each step.

I bronze up my face by adding Mac's Bronzing Powder to the hallow of my cheeks and around my hairline. Since I'm going in with colors to contour as well I just did enough bronzer to help add dimension.

I put a little bit of Mac's "Blush All Day" on my cheeks to add in a bit of color that was more natural.

I then start to contour more harshly with "Peace" by adding it along my hairline, the hallow of my cheeks, along my nose and under my chin. I first added some color then would blend it out and then add more to darker the color. I would add more color closer to my hairline and blend down and then on the lower part of my cheeks and blend that up.

This time for the makeup I did not use any glitter but just sequins in sporadic chunks on my face. Next time I would add more color contour and use some glitter and sequins. I liked how this turned out this time but feel like it could've been more complete.

For a hair accessory I made this beaded hair clip with a pendent on the bottom chain. Yeah..this picture sucks. I'll get better photos on Halloween and post them then.

For my costume I made little bra top with material left over from the items I made for my friend Courtney's wedding. It's a cream base fabric with matching lace to go over. I felt like this was pretty and could resemble scales almost. Again, I don't have the best photos of my outfit let's say it turned out pretty cool. I had different intentions of what to make but I like how it all turned out. My mom was so awesome and added sequins to the top part of my outfit and had the idea of adding the same strand of beads as my headpiece to shape my boobs. I also bought some starfish with the intention of putting them in my hair like Chrisspy did but instead I wanted it on my top to really pull the outfit together. I also made straps out of lace that can be worn a few different ways. The fabric can be gathered all at the top, fanned out or hang off the shoulder. My skirt is a green to blue ombre fabric and I wrapped it around and had it tie to the side.

Now here are some selfies and remember to check back after Halloween to see more photos of and some actual good ones.